Waterfall Way

As the rivers journey from the high tablelands of New England through the rainforests and down to the Coffs Coast, they create some spectacular waterfalls along the way.  As we drove inland and upwards, through the towns of Bellingen,  Urunga, Dorrigo, Uralla and Armidale, we stopped to admire the waterfalls and hike in some of the beautiful national parks.


Here are some of the highlights:

• A delicious Mocha coffee in great surroundings in Bellingen, followed by a perusal of the local shops including the impressive Emporium Bellingen.
• The waterfalls of course.  Ebor Falls was my favourite.
• A gorgeous (though longer than expected!) hike through the rainforests of Dorrigo National Park. The rain had just stopped and the forest had that amazing fresh smell.  We were in awe at the huge vines which in places, seemed to have completely devoured the trees they clung too.  The undergrowth abounded with all sorts of different fungi and the hike ended in the climactic spotting of a large Carpet Python.  A very exciting moment!
• Listening to the blood soaked audio book of World War Z in the car all about a zombie apocolypse. It's been adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt to be released later this year - it will be very interesting to see how it's been done.
• A delicious steak sandwich in Ebor.  As they say, hunger is the best sauce.
• Camping and hiking in The Cathedral Rock National park (somewhat basic in it's amenities) and doing an amazing hike up to the top of Cathedral Rock for spectacular views.
• Getting to drive Dani's car - what trust!  Especially when she let me take it off road for the drive into Cathedral Rock.  It's going to be hard going back to my little Toyota! 

Waterfalls of Waterfall Way

Dangar Falls

Ebor Falls (Upper)

Ebor Falls (lower)

Wollomombi Falls

Dorrigo National Park

The highlight of our hike: a Carpet Python

A viewpoint on the way

Great letter box

Next stop on our trip

• Cathedral Rock

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Xmas at North Head

I spent a wonderful Xmas with Dani and her family on her folk's Macadamia nut farm near North Head.

Here are some of the highlights:

• How welcome the family made me feel.
• The beauty of the farm with its gorgeous garden flowers and Macadamia nut trees and gorgeous views from the porch.
• A delicious Xmas eve dinner of smoked salmon and pork.
• Cooking the Xmas dinner main course with Dani - slow cooked lamb shoulder salad (with oranges and capers and olives).  It was totally delicious and surprisingly easy to make, a great recipe to add to my repertoire.
• The divine French dessert.
• Playing hide and seek with Dani's nephew in the garden.
• Lazing on a romantic swing chair on the porch.
• Exploring the farm, including the beautiful dam and surrounding rain forest.
• A cocktail party at friends on a nearby property with amazing food.
• Kaspar, the family dog, who abounded with Xmas spirits and loved having us all around.
• Eating lots and lots of Macadamia nuts - my favourite nut in the world!
• Getting some lovely presents - a slow cooker from Dani, a recipe book, and a book of national geographic photos.
• Two new bird species - Regents Bowerbird (to my delight) and Pacific Baza.
• The beautiful King Parrots that visited the farm.
• The peace of sitting on the farm balcony in the early morning.
• Seeing cute little swamp wallabies on the farm.
• Dani's dad's enthusiasm for birds and wildlife - a passion shared.
• Dani's dad giving us a tour of the farm shed and all the farm equipment.
• The extraordinarily loud chirping of the cicadas - a sound that always makes me feel peaceful.
• Talking to my wonderful family on Skype on Xmas evening.
• A lovely barbecue with Dani's sister and family at Scotts Head.
• Teaching Dani some camera tricks and doing a photo safari of the farm together.  Great fun.
• Learning that Macadamia nuts are indigenous to Australia - the trees are a natural rainforest species.  Is there no end to Australia's natural treasures?
• Two lovely walks along Valla Beach.
• A swim at Valla Beach and Shelley Beach.  The temperature of the water couldn't have been more perfect.
• Some exhilarating body surfing on big waves in Scotts Head.
• Reading the colourful graffiti on the rocks at North Heads headland.

Xmas dinner

Dani's lovely family

Dani's dad points out Regent Bowerbird in a nearby tree, to my great delight

Delicious French dessert that we brought from Sydney

Eating out on the balcony with beautiful views of the farm

Kaspar, the family dog - full of energy and Xmas spirit

The farmhouse

  

View from the balcony

The farm shed

Macadamia nut trees

Beautiful farm garden 

Rainforest surrounding the farm

Cicada husks

Farm dam

A beautiful mosaic in the nearby town of North Heads

Lagoon at North Heads

Shelley Beach

Graffiti at North Heads headland

Dani's nephew having a surf at Scotts Head

Next stop on our trip
Waterfall Way

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Birds (Nambucca Heads)

The farm where I spent Xmas abounded in birds.  I was ecstatic to see Regent Bowerbird - a beautiful species with black and gold plumage that I've wanted to see for ages.  Another new bird species for me was the Pacific Baza which was hard at work collecting twigs for a nest.  Dani took a great photo of an Eastern Spinebill - an extraordinary achievement with her 55 mm lens!!  The King Parrots that visited the farm in the early morning were also gorgeous and quite tame.  Colin, Dani's dad, is a great lover of birds and wildlife, and it was great to share his enthusiasm.

Regent Bowerbird

Eastern Spinebill (photo by Dx with a 55 mm lens!)

King Parrot

Pacific Baza collecting twigs

Happy Xmas from Mack

I promised Liza I would take some photos of Mack in the Xmas suit she bought him.  Mack didn't seem to mind too much.

Letter to Sue on her birthday

Hi there Sue

Happy birthday, birthday girl.  I hope you have a wonderful, fun filled day.

Thanks you very much for your friendship this past year, as always.  It's something I really cherish.  I miss my family in Cape Town greatly, but having family like you in Sydney helps greatly.

Here are some of the things I greatly admire about you and some of the memories from our friendship that I'm really grateful for:

• Your general zest and energy and passion for life - very, very inspiring indeed.
• How positive you always are, even during really tough times like your big operation a little while ago.
• How young at heart you are.
• How you love to laugh.
• Your great love of travel and exploring new places - I can so relate!
• Your passion for photography and taking great shots, we're kindred spirits there too of course.
• What a great friend you are to all your friends - how you constantly keep in touch and nurture your friendship.  Something I've learned from and aspire to.
• Your wonderful, wonderful photography - it's always such a pleasure working on your photos, there are always such gems there.  
• All those merits and credits you've got - it's been a privilege to help select and sometimes work on some of those photos
• Your great encouragement with my own photography - you are always so good for my confidence which is something I struggle with a bit at times as you know.
• Fantastic outings we've been on together - like Hunter Valley, Newtown, Penrith Whitewater, Balmoral, Vivid Festival and more.
• The three musketeers - you, me and wonderful Guy
• Taking my family on that great tour of Palm Beach - they so enjoyed it.
• Taking me out on The Sailing ship in the harbour, a lot of  fun.
• Your love of a good movie, something I enjoy too.
• Treating me to some lovely meals out.
• Your love of Africa and wildlife - and those incredible Safari photos you've taken.
• The fact you cherish your memories so much and savour them, something I've learned from too.
• Your delight in the blog we created together - it was such a fun and fulfilling project , and still is, and it's been great to share in so many of your memories from your life and travels.
• Those delicious meals you've cooked me - how I do appreciate a delicious home cooked meal!
• Your willingness to always learn new things, and how well you've done with your new Apple computer despite it's many frustrations and being so different from your last computer.
• Your love of Mango Groove - what great taste in music!!
• Knowing you're there for a chat if I'm feeling a little down - you never cease to cheer me up!
• Being able to be real with you - I don't have to put on any pretences.
• Your general awesomeness.

All in all, thanks so much for being you!  I look forward to many more years of great friendship.

Have a wonderful birthday and Xmas!

Hugs, G